Why is it that the Japanese people eat the blowfish when it contains a poison deadly enough to send people to their death within 6 hours of consumption?

Have you ever eaten blowfish? Do you even know what blowfish is?

In Japan there are a lot of restaurants that serve blowfish, and you can eat it prepared in a variety of ways: as sashimi, boiled, grilled, fried, and numerous others.

However, the blowfish contains a poison deadly enough to send someone to their death.
So, in Japan, how is blowfish eaten safely?

Chefs need a license to prepare blowfish.

In Japan, chefs who prepare blowfish must obtain a license to do so.
Because those who prepare blowfish possess this license, we can eat it with the poison taken out.
Two years or more of training are required to obtain the license.

The blowfish’s poison is incredibly dangerous.

If the blowfish’s poison were to enter your body, what kind of symptoms would occur?
First of all, the poison is very strong, and due to there being no specific medicine available, the fatality rate is high.
Let us take a look at the steps that occur from ingesting the poison to the moment of death.

1. First, within 20 minutes – 3 hours after having ingested the poison, your body begins to go into paralysis.
2. Next, you begin to have difficulty breathing.
3. Your entire body then becomes totally paralyzed to the point where you can’t even move your fingertips.
4. Finally, after losing consciousness, you stop breathing, your heart ceases to beat, and you die.

The amount of time it takes from ingesting the poison to the moment of death is around 4 – 6 hours.
Perhaps the Japanese who put themselves in so much danger by eating the blowfish are crazy.

How many people have died from the blowfish’s deadly poison?

During the 10 year period spanning from 2004 until 2013, the amount of people in Japan who contracted food poisoning by ingesting blowfish poison was 387. Of those individuals, 12 people actually died, resulting in a 3.1% fatality rate.
However, most of those people who ingested blowfish poison prepared the blowfish themselves without a license, so as long as you eat it in a restaurant with licensed chefs, you can rest assured that it’s safe to eat.
If you should somehow accidentally ingest blowfish poison, please immediately go to hospital and seek medical treatment.

Despite containing poison, the blowfish is actually a very delicious fish, so while visiting Japan by all means try it for yourself. If you happen to be in Osaka, I would recommend the fresh blowfish you can find at Kuromon Ichiba Market.